With three Pittsburgh forwards out injured, including Jake Guentzel’s long-term, upper-body ailment, the team had an open roster spot to bring Phillips in.

If the Penguins eventually waive Phillips once those players are back healthy, NHL rules state the Capitals will get the first crack at bringing him back. And, if no other NHL team puts a claim in, Phillips would go straight to Hershey if that’s what they want to do with him.

There’s only one issue with that. For players to be eligible to play in the 2024 AHL playoffs, they must be on their respective teams’ roster by the March 8 trade deadline. Guentzel is expected to be out of action past that date so even if Phillips returned to the Capitals’ organization, he would not be eligible to play for the Bears in the playoffs.

Notably, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are third in the AHL’s Eastern Conference and could be headed for a collision with Hershey in the playoffs. The Bears are 7-2-0-0 against the Baby Penguins this season and have won six straight against their Atlantic Division foe dating back to mid-November.

Hershey, who leads the entire AHL by 11 points, is trying to repeat as Calder Cup champions. Phillips’ arrival would have helped soothe the team’s current loss of leading scorer Mike Sgarbossa as he is up with the Capitals in the NHL and there don’t appear to be signs that he’s leaving soon.

The Sgarbossa situation provides another problem for the Bears as they’ll be without their top-scoring center in the playoffs, too, if the Capitals don’t send him down before the deadline. If Sgarbossa plays in five more games for the Capitals or is on their roster for 30 cumulative days this season, he will need to go back through waivers to return to Hershey.